German 20mm flak shell?

[Aliveanddead86]

Hi all,

I picked up another German ww2 shell.

I was informed at the time that it's a 1944 20mm flak shell from Normandy.

I'm trying to work out if that's correct. It's a shell made of steel.

Any help is appreciated!

Matt

[Jb4046]

You cannot determine such a thing. This shell could have been fired on any front, unless the person you received it from directly found it from Normandy. Which will be up to you to believe..

It appears someone has sanded/removed all the lacquer that’s usually applied to these late war steel shell casings. Quite annoying as it appears you can still see traces of it
Hopefully that wasn’t you...

Markings
44- 1944 year of manufacturer
442 - batch number
Waffenamt stamp - WaAA10
wa- Hugo Schneider AG HASAG
+ - means it has a strong base

[HARRY THE MOLE]

The date of manufacture cannot be used to link it to Normandy. Unless you can find out when batch 442 was manufactured, all you can say is that it was made in 1944. It might have not been fired until 1945! The same goes for any dated ammunition.

Cheers,
Steve

[Aliveanddead86]

Thanks guys.

I got told he got it from a farmer who got it from his field.

I have given it a quick wipe with brasso, but that's pretty much how it looked when I got it.

Thank you for the marking info, I didn't have a clue what the wa+ meant.

[lebus12]

You know, in Normandy, it's hard to find WWII items 75 years after the war !

In 1990, I saw every year French dealers bying Militaria in Germany to sell them in Normandy....